Due to travel changes, the Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee approved Atheists, Humanists & Agnostics' third budget alteration of the year Monday.
AHA requested the alteration after changing travel plans for its trip to the Secular Student Alliance conference at Ohio State University July 11-13. The national SSA is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
SSA conferences invite leaders of the secular movement to share experiences and knowledge, according to its website.
Instead of flying and only sending two officers, six AHA officers will be driving. AHA President Sam Erickson said the decision was more fiscally responsible.
AHA reallocated the original $1,000 to different budget-line items including hotel, transportation and registration fees.
SSFC also made changes to update and simplify the committee's existing bylaws and standing rules, which are responsible for governing the committee.
David Vines, chair of SSFC, said the changes to bylaws were made to clarify information and remove duplicative language.
Committee members removed items that can be inferred from the standing laws, such as the fact a majority vote is needed to declare a group’s eligibility.
Also, in accordance with the new eligibility criteria, the phrasing of "direct services" was changed to "core programming."
The committee removed descriptions for positions that were previously removed from the SSFC internal budget, including the legal counsel position and accountability liaisons. It cut out about three pages of standing rules, according to Vines.
Student Council will hear the bylaw and standing rule changes Wednesday for final approval.
